Public health would be strengthened if duty-free trade were closed, but the government will not participate in such an offer.
That is the conclusion of a 13-page tax-assessment that Parliament requested last year, according to the newspaper Vårt Land.
The report lists Finance’s Siv Jensen’s weighing up of the pros and cons of tax-free sales at airports and ferries.
The benefits of removing the tax-free scheme are because we travel more, we purchase and drink more alcohol. Increased alcohol consumption leads to more deaths, more violent crime and increased absenteeism.
The disadvantages are that Norwegians will get worse flight offers, fewer airports and higher ticket prices. And if Vinmonopolet acquires the tax-free sales, another state company, Avinor, will lose billions in revenue.
Jensen, who extended the duty-free quota to two wine bottles in 2014, is crystal clear: “Government has no plans to change the tax-free scheme.”
Health Political spokesman for Venstre, Kjetil Kjenseth, stated that ‘The government does not deal with reality, either in terms of public health or the environment. It relies on the senseless drunk’, he says.
In its proposal for a new party program Venstre wants to completely discontinue duty-free trade.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
